Automated system for adapting market data and evaluating the market value of items

ABSTRACT

A computer system including a service provider server receives price data sets responsive to one or more product specification data sets. The service provider server invokes an evaluation service that causes a metric application to obtain metric data including market reference price data for items responsive to attributes of an item identified in a price data set. The attribute data for each responsive item is algorithmically processed to dynamically identify differences. One or more adjustment values are generated and applied to the market reference price data for a responsive item that differs from the item identified in the price data set, transforming the market reference price data into normalized metric data that is used to produce a normalized metric value. At least a subset of the price data sets and the respective normalized metric values are communicated via a network interface to a remotely located buyer-agent computing device.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This present disclosure generally relates to electronic commercesoftware applications and, more particularly, to evaluating prices andtransactions for purchasing.

2. Description of the Related Art

Commodity items such as lumber, agricultural products, metals, andlivestock/meat are usually traded in the open market between a number ofbuyers and sellers. The sales transactions of most commodity itemsinvolve a number of parameters. For instance, in the trade of commoditylumber, a buyer usually orders materials by specifying parameters suchas lumber species, grade, size (i.e., 2×4, 2×10, etc.), and length, aswell as the “tally” or mix of units of various lengths within theshipment, method of transportation (i.e., rail or truck), shipping terms(i.e., FOB or delivered), and desired date of receipt, with eachparameter influencing the value of the commodity purchase. Given themultiple possible combinations of factors, a commodity buyer often findsit difficult to objectively compare similar but unequal offerings amongcompeting vendors.

For example, in a case where a lumber buyer desires to order a railcarload of spruce (SPF) 2×4's of #2 & Better grade, the buyer would queryvendors offering matching species and grade carloads seeking the bestmatch for the buyer's need or tally preference at the lowest marketprice. Lumber carloads are quoted at a price per thousand board feet forall material on the railcar. When the quoted parameters are notidentical, it is very difficult for buyers to determine the comparativevalue of unequal offerings.

Typically, a lumber buyer will find multiple vendors each havingdifferent offerings available. For example, a railcar of SPF 2×4's maybe quoted at a rate of $300/MBF (thousand board feet) by multiplevendors. Even though the MBF price is equal, one vendor's carload mayrepresent significantly greater marketplace value because it containsthe more desirable lengths of 2×4's, such as market-preferred 16-foot2×4's. When the offering price varies in addition to the mix of lengths,it becomes increasingly difficult to compare quotes from variousvendors. Further, because construction projects often require long leadtimes, the lumber product may need to be priced now, but not delivereduntil a time in the future. Alternately, another species of lumber(i.e., southern pine) may represent an acceptable substitute.

Therefore, from the foregoing, there is a need for a method and systemthat allows buyers to evaluate the price of commodity offeringspossessing varying shipping parameters.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Described herein is a computing system that operates in a networkedservice provider environment. In at least one aspect, the computingsystem comprises a service provider server that includes a networkinterface, a non-transitory computer-readable medium havingcomputer-executable instructions stored thereon, and a processor incommunication with the network interface and the computer-readablemedium. The processor is configured to execute the computer-executableinstructions stored on the computer-readable medium. When executed, thecomputer-executable instructions implement a metric manager and a metricapplication.

The metric manager is programmed to manage at least one evaluationservice and a plurality of predefined instructions for adapting metricdata. The metric application is programmed to manage invocation of theat least one evaluation service and execution of one or more predefinedinstructions for adapting metric data that pertain to the at least oneevaluation service. The metric application is further programmed tomanage one or more interfaces that facilitate communications with theservice provider server.

In at least one aspect of the present disclosure, the metricapplication, in operation, configures the service provider server toreceive one or more product specification data sets from a remotelylocated buyer-agent computing device via the network interface. Eachproduct specification data set identifies at least one item defined by aplurality of attributes having attribute data that includes two or moreparameter values, or a plurality of items that differ in accordance withat least one parameter value. The parameter value or values representattributes that are variable for the identified item or items.

The metric application further configures the service provider server toreceive a plurality of price data sets responsive to the one or moreproduct specification data sets. Each received price data set identifiesat least one item that is responsive to a respective item identified inthe one or more product specification data sets. The at least one itemis defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data thatincludes at least one parameter value. Each received price data setrepresents an offer to sell and includes price data for the at least oneitem. At least one item identified in a received price data set differsby at least one parameter value from the respective item as identifiedin the product specification data set and/or another received price dataset.

For at least a subset of the received price data sets, the metricapplication invokes the at least one evaluation service to automaticallyproduce one or more normalized metric values for at least one itemidentified in each of the price data sets in the subset. The subsetincludes at least one received price data set that identifies at leastone item that differs by at least one parameter value from therespective item as identified in the product specification data setand/or another received price data set. Invoking the at least oneevaluation service causes the metric application to obtain, from atleast one data source accessible to the service provider server, metricdata for one or more items responsive to attributes of the at least oneitem identified in the price data set. Each of the one or moreresponsive items in the metric data is defined by a plurality ofattributes having attribute data that includes at least one parametervalue. The metric data includes market reference price data for the oneor more responsive items at a particular time or period of time. Themetric application algorithmically processes the attribute data for eachresponsive item in the metric data and the attribute data of the atleast one item identified in the price data set to dynamically identifyany differences, wherein the identified differences in the attributedata are used to contextually determine which of the predefinedinstructions are applicable to the responsive item in the metric data.

Invoking the at least one evaluation service further causes the metricapplication to normalize the metric data by executing the predefinedinstructions that were determined applicable to the responsive item inthe metric data. Execution of the predefined instructions causes one ormore adjustment values to be generated and applied to the marketreference price data for at least one responsive item that differs by atleast one parameter value from the at least one item identified in theprice data set, transforming the market reference price data for the atleast one responsive item into normalized metric data. The metricapplication produces at least one normalized metric value for the atleast one item identified in the price data set using the normalizedmetric data.

The metric application is further programmed to manage at least oneinterface that, in operation, configures the service provider server tocommunicate, via the network interface, at least a subset of thereceived price data sets and the at least one normalized metric valueproduced for the at least one item identified in each of thecommunicated price data sets, to at least the remotely locatedbuyer-agent computing device from which the one or more productspecification data sets were received.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the metric application, inoperation, configures the service provider server to receive one or moreproduct specification data sets from a remotely located buyer-agentcomputing device via the network interface, wherein each productspecification data set identifies at least one item defined by aplurality of attributes having attribute data that includes two or moreparameter values, or a plurality of items that differ in accordance withat least one parameter value, and the parameter value or valuesrepresent attributes that are variable for the identified item or items.The metric application also receives a plurality of price data setsresponsive to the one or more product specification data sets, whereineach received price data set identifies at least one item that isresponsive to a respective item identified in the one or more productspecification data sets. The at least one item is defined by a pluralityof attributes having attribute data that includes at least one parametervalue. Each received price data set represents an offer to sell andincludes price data for the at least one item. At least one itemidentified in a received price data set differs by at least oneparameter value from the respective item as identified in the productspecification data set and/or another received price data set.

For at least a subset of the received price data sets, the metricapplication invokes the at least one evaluation service to automaticallygenerate one or more relative value metrics for at least one itemidentified in each of the price data sets in the subset. The subsetincludes at least one received price data set that identifies at leastone item that differs by at least one parameter value from therespective item as identified in the product specification data setand/or another received price data set. Invoking the at least oneevaluation service causes the metric application to obtain, from atleast one data source accessible to the service provider server, metricdata for one or more items responsive to attributes of the at least oneitem identified in the price data set. Each of the one or moreresponsive items in the metric data is defined by a plurality ofattributes having attribute data that includes at least one parametervalue. The metric data includes market reference price data for the oneor more responsive items at a particular time or period of time. Themetric application algorithmically processes the attribute data for eachresponsive item in the metric data and the attribute data of the atleast one item identified in the price data set to dynamically identifyany differences. The identified differences in the attribute data areused to contextually determine which of the predefined instructions areapplicable to the responsive item in the metric data.

Invoking the at least one evaluation service further causes the metricapplication to normalize the metric data by executing the predefinedinstructions that were determined applicable to the responsive item inthe metric data. Execution of the predefined instructions causes one ormore adjustment values to be generated and applied to the marketreference price data for at least one responsive item that differs by atleast one parameter value from the at least one item identified in theprice data set, transforming the market reference price data for theresponsive item into normalized metric data. The metric applicationproduces at least one normalized metric value for the at least one itemidentified in the price data set using the normalized metric data, andgenerates one or more relative value metrics for the at least one itemidentified in the price data set. The price data for the at least oneitem is divided by the at least one normalized metric value produced forthe at least one item to generate a ratio or index value.

The metric application is further programmed to manage at least oneinterface that, in operation, configures the service provider server tocommunicate, via the network interface, at least a subset of thereceived price data sets and the one or more relative value metricsgenerated for the at least one item identified in each of thecommunicated price data sets, to at least the remotely locatedbuyer-agent computing device from which the one or more productspecification data sets were received.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the metric applicationreceives one or more product specification data sets from a remotelylocated buyer-agent computing device via the network interface, whereineach product specification data set identifies at least one item definedby a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes two ormore parameter values, or a plurality of items that differ in accordancewith at least one parameter value, wherein the parameter value or valuesrepresent attributes that are variable for the identified item or items.The metric application also receives a plurality of price data setsresponsive to the one or more product specification data sets, whereineach received price data set identifies at least one item that isresponsive to a respective item identified in the one or more productspecification data sets, and wherein the at least one item is defined bya plurality of attributes having attribute data that includes at leastone parameter value. Each received price data set represents an offer tosell and includes price data for the at least one item. At least oneitem identified in a received price data set differs by at least oneparameter value from the respective item as identified in the productspecification data set and/or another received price data set.

For at least a subset of the received price data sets, the metricapplication invokes the at least one evaluation service to automaticallygenerate one or more relative value metrics for at least one itemidentified in each of the price data sets in the subset. The subsetincludes at least one received price data set that identifies at leastone item that differs by at least one parameter value from therespective item as identified in the product specification data setand/or another received price data set. Invoking the at least oneevaluation service causes the metric application to obtain, from atleast one data source accessible to the service provider server, metricdata for one or more items responsive to attributes of the at least oneitem identified in the price data set. Each of the one or moreresponsive items in the metric data is defined by a plurality ofattributes having attribute data that includes at least one parametervalue, and wherein the metric data includes market reference price datafor the one or more responsive items at a particular time or period oftime. The metric application algorithmically processes the attributedata for each responsive item in the metric data and the attribute dataof the at least one item identified in the price data set to dynamicallyidentify any differences. The identified differences in the attributedata are used to contextually determine which of the predefinedinstructions are applicable to the responsive item in the metric data.

Invoking the at least one evaluation service further causes the metricapplication to normalize the metric data by executing the predefinedinstructions that were determined applicable to the responsive items inthe metric data. Execution of the predefined instructions causes one ormore adjustment values to be generated and applied to the marketreference price data for at least one responsive item that differs by atleast one parameter value from the at least one item identified in thereceived price data set, transforming the market-reference price datafor the responsive item into normalized metric data. The metricapplication produces at least one normalized metric value for the atleast one item identified in the price data set using the normalizedmetric data, and generates one or more relative value metrics for the atleast one item identified in the price data set. The price data for theat least one item is divided by the at least one normalized metric valueproduced for the at least one item to generate a ratio or index value.The metric application also sorts or ranks the plurality of receivedprice data sets by the one or more relative value metrics generated forthe at least one item identified in each price data set.

The metric application is further programmed to manage at least oneinterface that, in operation, configures the service provider server tocommunicate, via the network interface, at least a sorted or rankedsubset of the received price data sets to at least the remotely locatedbuyer-agent computing device from which the one or more productspecification data sets were received.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of thepresent disclosure will become more readily appreciated as the samebecome better understood by reference to the following detaileddescription, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prior art representative portion of theInternet;

FIG. 2 is a pictorial diagram of a system of devices connected to theInternet, which depict the travel route of data;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the several components of the buyer'scomputer shown in FIG. 2 that is used to request information on aparticular route;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the several components of an informationserver shown in FIG. 2 that is used to supply information on aparticular route;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating the logic of a routine used by theinformation server to receive and process the buyer's actions;

FIGS. 6A-6B are flow diagrams illustrating another embodiment of thelogic used by the information server to receive and process the quotesand quote requests of both buyers and vendors;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating another embodiment of the logicused by the information server to execute the process of a catalogpurchase;

FIGS. 8A-8D are images of windows produced by a Web browser applicationinstalled on a client computer accessing a server illustrating oneembodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of thenormalization process described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The term “Internet” refers to the collection of networks and routersthat use the Internet Protocol (IP) to communicate with one another. Arepresentative section of the Internet 100 as known in the prior art isshown in FIG. 1 in which a plurality of local area networks (LANs) 120and a wide area network (WAN) 110 are interconnected by routers 125. Therouters 125 are generally special-purpose computers used to interfaceone LAN or WAN to another. Communication links within the LANs may betwisted wire pair, or coaxial cable, while communication links betweennetworks may utilize 56 Kbps analog telephone lines, or 1 Mbps digitalT-1 lines, and/or 45 Mbps T-3 lines. Further, computers and otherrelated electronic devices can be remotely connected to either the LANs120 or the WAN 110 via a modem and temporary telephone link. Suchcomputers and electronic devices 130 are shown in FIG. 1 as connected toone of the LANs 120 via dotted lines. It will be appreciated that theInternet comprises a vast number of such interconnected networks,computers, and routers and that only a small representative section ofthe Internet 100 is shown in FIG. 1.

The World Wide Web (WWW), on the other hand, is a vast collection ofinterconnected, electronically stored information located on serversconnected throughout the Internet 100. Many companies are now providingservices and access to their content over the Internet 100 using theWWW. In accordance with the present disclosure, and as shown in FIG. 2,there may be a plurality of buyers operating a plurality of clientcomputing devices 235. FIG. 2 generally shows a system 200 of computersand devices to which an information server 230 is connected and to whichthe buyers' computers 235 are also connected. Also connected to theInternet 100 is a plurality of computing devices 250 associated with aplurality of sellers. The system 200 also includes a communicationsprogram, referred to as CEA, which is used on the sellers' computingdevices 250 to create a communication means between the sellers' backendoffice software and the server applications.

The buyers of a market commodity may, through their computers 235,request information about a plurality of items or order over theInternet 100 via a Web browser installed on the buyers' computers.Responsive to such requests, the information server 230, also referredto as a server 230, may combine the first buyer's information withinformation from other buyers on other computing devices 235. The server230 then transmits the combined buyer data to the respective computingdevices 250 associated with the plurality of buyers. Details of thisprocess are described in more detail below in association with FIGS.5-7.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that in otherembodiments of the present disclosure, the capabilities of the server230 and/or the client computing devices 235 and 250 may all be embodiedin the other configurations. Consequently, it would be appreciated thatin these embodiments, the server 230 could be located on any computingdevice associated with the buyers' or sellers' computing devices.Additionally, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatwhile only four buyer computing devices 235, four seller computingdevices 250, and one server 230 are depicted in FIG. 2, numerousconfigurations involving a vast number of buyer and seller computingdevices and a plurality of servers 230, equipped with the hardware andsoftware components described below, may be connected to the Internet100.

FIG. 3 depicts several of the key components of the buyer's clientcomputing device 235. As known in the art, client computing devices 235are also referred to as “clients” or “devices,” and client computingdevices 235 also include other devices such as palm computing devices,cellular telephones, or other like forms of electronics. A clientcomputing device can also be the same computing device as the server230. An “agent” can be a person, server, or a client computing device235 having software configured to assist the buyer in making purchasingdecisions based on one or more buyer-determined parameters. Those ofordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the buyer's computer 235in actual practice will include many more components than those shown inFIG. 3. However, it is not necessary that all of these generallyconventional components be shown in order to disclose an illustrativeembodiment for practicing the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, thebuyer's computer includes a network interface 315 for connecting to theInternet 100. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate thatthe network interface 315 includes the necessary circuitry for such aconnection and is also constructed for use with TCP/IP protocol.

The buyer's computer 235 also includes a processing unit 305, a display310, and a memory 300, all interconnected along with the networkinterface 315 via a bus 360. The memory 300 generally comprises a randomaccess memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), and a permanent massstorage device, such as a disk drive. The memory 300 stores the programcode necessary for requesting and/or depicting a desired route over theInternet 100 in accordance with the present disclosure. Morespecifically, the memory 300 stores a Web browser 330, such asNetscape's NAVIGATOR® or Microsoft's INTERNET EXPLORER® browsers, usedin accordance with the present disclosure for depicting a desired routeover the Internet 100. In addition, memory 300 also stores an operatingsystem 320 and a communications application 325. It will be appreciatedthat these software components may be stored on a computer-readablemedium and loaded into memory 300 of the buyers' computer 235 using adrive mechanism associated with the computer-readable medium, such as afloppy, tape, or CD-ROM drive.

As will be described in more detail below, the user interface whichallows products to be ordered by the buyers are supplied by a remoteserver, i.e., the information server 230 located elsewhere on theInternet, as illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 depicts several of the keycomponents of the information server 230. Those of ordinary skill in theart will appreciate that the information server 230 includes many morecomponents than shown in FIG. 4. However, it is not necessary that allof these generally conventional components be shown in order to disclosean illustrative embodiment for practicing the present invention. Asshown in FIG. 4, the information server 230 is connected to the Internet100 via a network interface 410. Those of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that the network interface 410 includes the necessarycircuitry for connecting the information server 230 to the Internet 100,and is constructed for use with TCP/IP protocol.

The information server 230 also includes a processing unit 415, adisplay 440, and a mass memory 450, all interconnected along with thenetwork interface 410 via a bus 460. The mass memory 450 generallycomprises a random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), and apermanent mass storage device, such as a hard disk drive, tape drive,optical drive, floppy disk drive, or combination thereof. The massmemory 450 stores the program code and data necessary for incident androute analysis as well as supplying the results of that analysis toconsumers in accordance with the present disclosure. More specifically,the mass memory 450 stores a metrics application 425 formed inaccordance with the present disclosure for managing the purchase forumsof commodities products, and a metric server adapter 435 for managingmetric data. In addition, mass memory 450 stores a database 445 of buyerinformation continuously logged by the information server 230 forstatistical market analysis. It will be appreciated by those of ordinaryskill in the art that the database 445 of product and buyer informationmay also be stored on other servers or storage devices connected toeither the information server 230 or the Internet 100. Finally, massmemory 450 stores Web server software 430 for handling requests forstored information received via the Internet 100 and the WWW, and anoperating system 420. It will be appreciated that the aforementionedsoftware components may be stored on a computer-readable medium andloaded into mass memory 450 of the information server 230 using a drivemechanism associated with the computer-readable medium, such as floppy,tape, or CD-ROM drive. In addition, the data stored in the mass memory450 and other memory can be “exposed” to other computers or persons forpurposes of communicating data. Thus, “exposing” data from a computingdevice could mean transmitting data to another device or person,transferring XML data packets, transferring data within the samecomputer, or other like forms of data communications.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, FIG. 5 is aflow chart illustrating the logic implemented for the creation of aRequest for Quote (RFQ) by a singular buyer or a pool of buyers. Inprocess of FIG. 5, also referred to as the pooling process 500, a buyeror a pool of buyers generate an RFQ which is displayed or transmitted toa plurality of sellers. Responsive to receiving the RFQ, the sellersthen send quotes to the buyers.

In summary, the creation of the RFQ consists of at least one buyerinitially entering general user identification information to initiatethe process. The buyer would then define a Line Item on a Web pagedisplaying an RFQ form. The Line Item is defined per industryspecification and units of product are grouped as a “tally” per industrypractice. The pooling process 500 allows buyers to combine RFQ LineItems with other buyers with like needs. In one embodiment, the pool buyfeature is created by a graphical user interface where the RFQ LineItems from a plurality of buyers are displayed on a Web page to one ofthe pool buyers, referred to as the pool administrator. The server 230also provides a Web-based feature allowing the pool administrator toselectively add each RFQ Line Item to one combined RFQ. The combined RFQis then sent to at least one vendor or seller. This feature provides aforum for pooling the orders of many buyers, which allows individualentities or divisions of larger companies to advantageously bid forlarger orders, thus providing them with more bidding power and thepossibility of gaining a lower price.

The pooling process 500 begins in step 501 where a buyer initiates theprocess by providing buyer purchase data. In step 501, the buyeraccesses a Web page transmitted from the server 230 configured toreceive the buyer purchase data, also referred to as the productspecification data set or the Line Item data. One exemplary Web page forthe logic of step 501 is depicted in FIG. 8A. As shown in FIG. 8A, thebuyer enters the Line Item data specifications in the fields of the Webpage. The Line Item data consists of lumber species and grade 803,number of pieces per unit 804, quantities of the various unitscomprising the preferred assortment in the tally 805A-E, delivery method806, delivery date 807, delivery location 808, and the overall quantity809. In one embodiment, the buyer must define the delivery date aseither contemporaneous “on-or-before” delivery date or specify adelivery date in the future for a “Forward Price” RFQ. In addition, thebuyer selects a metric or multiple metrics in a field 810 per RFQ LineItem (tally). As described in more detail below, the metric providespricing data that is used as a reference point for the buyer to comparethe various quotes returned from the sellers. The buyer RFQ Line Itemdata is then stored in the memory of the server 230.

Returning to FIG. 5, at a next step 503, the server 230 determines ifthe buyer is going to participate in a pool buy. In the process ofdecision block 503, the server 230 provides an option in a Web page thatallows the buyer to post their Line Item data to a vendor or post theirLine Item data to a buyer pool. The window illustrated in FIG. 8A is oneexemplary Web page illustrating these options for a buyer. As shown inFIG. 8A, the links “Post Buyer Pool” 812 and “Post to Vendors” 814 areprovided on the RFQ Web page.

At step 503, if the buyer does not elect to participate in a pool buy,the process continues to step 513 where the server 230 generates arequest for a quote (RFQ) from the buyer's Line Item data. A detaileddescription of how the server 230 generates a request for a quote (RFQ)is summarized below and referred to as the purchase order process 600Adepicted in FIG. 6A.

Alternatively, at decision block 503, if the buyer elects to participatein a pool buy, the process continues to step 505 where the systemnotifies other buyers logged into the server 230 that an RFQ isavailable in a pool, allowing other buyers to add additional Line Items(tallies) to the RFQ. In this part of the process, the Line Items fromeach buyer are received by and stored in the server memory. The LineItems provided by each buyer in the pool are received by the server 230using the same process as described above with reference to block 501and the Web page of FIG. 8A. All of the Line Items stored on the server230 are then displayed to a pool administrator via a Web page or ane-mail message. In one embodiment, the pool administrator is one of thebuyers in a pool where the pool administrator has the capability toselect all of the Line Item data to generate a combined RFQ. The server230 provides the pool administrator with this capability by the use ofany Web-based communicative device, such as e-mail or HTML forms. Aspart of the process, as shown in steps 507 and 509, the pool may be leftopen for a predetermined period of time to allow additional buyers toadd purchase data to the current RFQ.

At decision block 509, the server 230 determines if the pooladministrator has closed the pool. The logic of this step 509 isexecuted when the server 230 receives the combined RFQ data from thepool administrator. The pool administrator can send the combined RFQdata to the server 230 via an HTML form or by other electronic messagingmeans such as e-mail or URL strings. Once the server 230 has determinedthat the pool is closed, the process continues to block 510 where theLine Items from each buyer (the combined RFQ) are sent to all of thebuyers in the pool. The process then continues to step 513 where theserver 230 sends the combined RFQ to the vendors or sellers.

Referring now to FIG. 6A, one embodiment of the purchase-negotiationprocess 600 is disclosed. The purchase-negotiation process 600 is alsoreferred to as a solicited offer process or the market purchase process.In summary, the purchase-negotiation process 600 allows at least onebuyer to submit an RFQ and then view quotes from a plurality of vendorsand purchase items from selected vendor(s). The logic of FIG. 6Aprovides buyers with a forum that automatically manages, collects, andnormalizes the price of desired commodity items. Thepurchase-negotiation process 600 calculates a normalized price data setthat is based on a predefined metric(s). The calculation of thenormalized price data set in combination with the format of the Webpages described herein create an integrated forum where quotes for aplurality of inherently dissimilar products can be easily obtained andcompared.

The purchase-negotiation process 600 begins at step 601 where the RFQ,as generated by one buyer or a pool of buyers in the process depicted inFIG. 5, is sent to a plurality of computing devices 250 associated witha plurality of sellers or vendors. The vendors receive the RFQ via a Webpage transmitted by the server 230. In one embodiment, the vendorsreceive an e-mail message having a hypertext link to the RFQ Web page toprovide notice to the vendor. Responsive to the information in thebuyers' RFQ, the process then continues to step 603 where at least onevendor sends their quote information to the server 230.

In the process of step 603, the vendors respond to the RFQ by sendingtheir price quote to the server 230 for display via a Web page to thebuyer or buyer pool. Generally described, the vendors send an HTML formor an e-mail message with a price and description of the order. Thedescription of the order in the quote message contains the same orderinformation as the RFQ.

FIG. 8B illustrates one exemplary Web page of a vendor quote that isdisplayed to the buyer. As shown in FIG. 8B, the vendor quote includesthe vendor's price 813, the lumber species and grade 803, number ofpieces per unit 804, quantities of the various units comprising thepreferred assortment in the tally 805A-E, delivery method 806, deliverydate 807, and delivery location 808. In the quote response message, thevendor has the capability to modify any of the information that wassubmitted in the RFQ. For example, the vendor may edit the quantityvalues for the various units comprising the preferred assortment in thetally 805A-E. This allows the vendor to adjust the buyer's requestaccording to the vendor's inventory, best means of transportation, etc.All of the vendor's quote information is referred to as price data setor the RFQ Line Item (tally) quote.

Returning to FIG. 6A, the process continues to step 605, where theserver 230 normalizes the price of each RFQ Line Item (tally) quote fromeach vendor. The normalization of the vendor's price is a computationthat evaluates the vendor's price utilizing data from a metric. Thenormalization process is carried out because each vendor may respond tothe Line Items of an RFQ by quoting products that are different from abuyer's RFQ and/or have a different tally configuration. Thenormalization of the pricing allows the buyers to objectively comparethe relative value of the different products offered by the plurality ofvendors. For example, one vendor may produce a quote for an RFQ of oneunit of 2×4×12, two units of 2×4×12, and three units of 2×4×16. At thesame time, another vendor may submit a quote for three units of 2×4×12,one unit of 2×4×12, and two units of 2×4×16. Even though there is somedifference between these two offerings, the price normalization processprovides a means for the buyer to effectively compare and evaluate thedifferent quotes even though there are variations in the products. Theprice normalization process 900 is described in more detail below inconjunction with the flow diagram of FIG. 9.

Returning again to FIG. 6A, at step 607 the vendor's quote informationis communicated to the buyer's computer for display. As shown in FIG. 8Band described in detail above, the vendor's quote is displayed via a Webpage that communicates the vendor's quote price 813 and other purchaseinformation. In addition, the vendor's quote page contains a metricprice 815 and a quote price versus metric price ratio 816. The metricprice 815 and the quote price versus metric price ratio 816 are alsoreferred to as a normalized price data value. A ratio higher than one(1) indicates a quote price that is above the metric price, and a lowerratio indicates a quote price that is below the metric price.

Next, at step 609, the buyer or the administrator of the buyer poolcompares the various products and prices quoted by the vendors alongwith the normalized price for each Line Item on the RFQ. In this part ofthe process, the buyer may decide to purchase one of the products from aparticular vendor and sends a notification to the selected vendorindicating the same. The buyer notifies the selected vendor by the useof an electronic means via the server 230, such as an HTML form, a chatwindow, e-mail, etc. For example, the quote Web page depicted in FIG. 8Bshows two different quotes with two different tallies, the first quoteprice 813 of $360, and the second quote price 813A of $320. If the buyerdetermines that they prefer to purchase the materials listed in thefirst quote, the buyer selects the “Buy!” hyperlink 820 or 820Aassociated with the desired tally.

If the buyer is not satisfied with any of the listed vendor quotes, theserver 230 allows the buyer to further negotiate with one or more of thevendors to obtain a new quote. This step is shown in decision block 611,where the buyer makes the determination to either accept a quoted priceor proceed to step 613 where they negotiate with the vendor to obtainanother quote or present a counter-offer. Here, the server 230 providesa graphical user interface configured to allow the buyer and one vendorto electronically communicate, using, e.g., a chat window, streamingvoice communications, or other standard methods of communication. Thereare many forms of electronic communications known in the art that can beused to allow the buyer and vendors to communicate.

The buyer and seller negotiate various quotes and iterate throughseveral steps 603-613 directed by the server 230, where each quote isnormalized, compared, and further negotiated until a quote is acceptedby the buyer or negotiations cease. While the buyer and seller negotiatethe various quotes, the server 230 stores each quote until the twoparties agree on a price. At any step during the negotiation process,the system always presents the buyer with an option to terminate thenegotiation if dissatisfied with the quote(s).

At decision block 611, when a buyer agrees on a quoted price, theprocess then continues to step 615 where the buyer sends a notificationmessage to the vendor indicating they have accepted a quote. Asdescribed above with reference to steps 603-613, the buyer notificationmessage of step 615 may be in the form of a message on a chat window,e-mail, by an HTML form, or the like. However, the buyer notificationmust be transmitted in a format that allows the system to record thetransaction. The buyer notification may include all of the informationregarding the specifications by RFQ Line Item, such as, but not limitedto, the buy price, date, and method of shipment, and payment terms.

The purchase-negotiation process 600 is then finalized when the system,as shown in step 617, sends a confirmation message to a tracking system.The confirmation message includes all of the information related to theagreed sales transaction.

Optionally, the process includes step 619, where the server 230 storesall of the information related to RFQ, offers, and the final salestransaction in a historical database. This would allow the server 230 touse all of the transaction information in an analysis process forproviding an improved method of obtaining a lower market price in futuretransactions and in identifying optimum purchasing strategy. Theanalysis process is described in further detail below. Although theillustrated embodiment is configured to store the data related to thesales transactions, the system can also be configured to store all ofthe iterative quote information exchanged between the buyer and vendor.

Referring now to FIG. 6B, an embodiment of the unsolicited offer process650 is disclosed. In summary, the unsolicited offer process 650, alsoreferred to as the unsolicited market purchase process, allows at leastone buyer to view unsolicited offers from a plurality of vendors andpurchase items from a plurality of vendors from the offers. The logic ofFIG. 6B provides buyers with a forum that automatically manages,collects, and normalizes price quotes based on metric data. By the pricenormalization method of FIG. 6B, the server 230 creates an integratedforum where offers from a plurality of inherently dissimilar productscan be obtained and normalized for determination of purchase.

The unsolicited offer process 650 begins at step 651 where the pluralityof vendors is able to submit offers to the server 230. This part of theprocess is executed in a manner similar to step 603 of FIG. 6A, wherethe vendor submits a quote to the server 230. However, in the Web pageof step 651, the server 230 generates a Web page containing severaltallies from many different vendors. In addition, at step 651, theserver 230 stores all of the unsolicited offer data provided by thevendors.

Next, at step 653, a buyer views the offers stored on the server 230.This part of the process is carried out in a manner similar to theprocess of step 603 or 607 where the server 230 displays a plurality ofoffers similar to the tallies depicted in FIG. 8A.

Next, at step 655, the buyer selects a metric for the calculation of thenormalized price associated with the selected offer. As described inmore detail below, metrics may come from publicly available information,i.e., price of futures contracts traded on the Chicago MercantileExchange, subscription services such as Crowes™ or Random Lengths™accessed via the metric server adapter 435 (shown in FIG. 4), orinternally generated metrics derived from the data stored in the server230. The normalization calculation, otherwise referred to as thenormalization process, occurs each time the buyer views a differentoffer, and the normalization calculation uses the most current metricdata for each calculation. The normalization process is carried outbecause each vendor will most likely offer products that may vary fromproducts of other vendors and have a different tally configuration fromthose supplied by other vendors. The normalization of the pricing allowsthe buyers to compare the relative value of the different productsoffered by the number of vendors. The metric price for each selectedoffer is displayed in a similar manner as the metric price 815 and 816shown in the Web page of FIG. 8B.

Next, at decision block 657, the buyer selects at least one offer forpurchase. This is similar to the process of FIG. 6A in that the buyerselects the “Buy!” hyperlink 820 associated with the desired tally topurchase an order. The process then continues to steps 659-663, where,at step 659, the process transmits a buy notice to the vendor, then, atstep 661, sends a purchase confirmation to the tracking system, andthen, at step 663, saves the transaction data in the server database.The steps 659-663 are carried out in the same manner as the steps615-619 of FIG. 6A. In the above-described process, the buyernotification may include all of the information regarding thespecifications by RFQ Line Item, and data such as, but not limited to,the buy price, date, and method of shipment, and the payment terms.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a flow diagram illustrating yet anotherembodiment of the present disclosure is shown. FIG. 7 illustrates thecatalog purchase process 700. This embodiment allows buyers to searchfor a catalog price of desired commerce items, enter their purchase databased on the pre-negotiated catalog prices, and to compare those catalogprices with a selected metric price and the current market price,wherein the current market price is determined by thepurchase-negotiation process 600.

The process starts at step 701 where the buyer selects a program buycatalog 443. The program buy catalog 443 provides buyers with thepublished or pre-negotiated price of the desired products. Next, at step703, based on the catalog information, the buyer then enters theirpurchase data. Similar to step 501 of FIG. 5 and the tally shown in FIG.8A, the buyer sends purchase data to the server 230, such as the desiredquantity of each item and the lumber species, grade, etc.

The process then proceeds to decision block 707 where the buyer makes adetermination of whether to purchase the items using the catalog priceor purchase the desired product in the open market. Here, the server 230allows the user to make this determination by displaying the metricprice of each catalog price. This format is similar to the metric price815 and 816 displayed in FIG. 8B.

At decision block 707, if the buyer determines that the catalog price isbetter than a selected metric price, the process then proceeds to steps709, 711, and 713, where a program buy from the catalog is executed, andthe buyer's purchase information is stored on the server 230 and sent tothe vendor's system to confirm the sale. These steps 711-713 are carriedout in the same manner as the confirmation and save steps 617 and 619 asshown in FIG. 6A.

At decision block 707, if the buyer determines that the metric price isbetter than the catalog price, the process continues to step 717 wherethe buyer's purchase data is entered into an RFQ. At this step, theprocess carries out the first five steps 601-609 of the method of FIG.6A to provide buyers with the price data from the open market, as wellas provide the normalized prices for each open market quote. At step719, the server 230 then displays a Web page that allows the user toselect from a purchase option of a catalog or spot (market) purchase. Atdecision block 721, based on the displayed information, the buyer willthen have an opportunity to make a determination of whether they willproceed with a catalog purchase or an open market purchase.

At decision block 721, if the buyer proceeds with the catalog purchase,the process continues to step 709 where the catalog purchase isexecuted. Steps 709-713 used to carry out the catalog purchase are thesame as if the buyer had selected the catalog purchase in step 707.However, if at decision block 721 the buyer selects the option toproceed with the market purchase, the process continues to step 723where the RFQ generated in step 717 is sent to the vendor. Here, theprocess carries out the steps of FIG. 6 to complete the open marketpurchase. More specifically, the process continues to step 609 where thebuyer compares the normalized prices from each vendor. Once a vendor isselected, the negotiation process of steps 603-613 is carried out untilthe buyer decides to execute the purchase. Next, the transaction steps615-619 are carried out to confirm the purchase, notify the trackingsystem, and save the transactional data on the historical database.

Optionally, the process can include a step where the server 230 storesall of the information related to program buy and metric comparisons andthe final sales transaction in a historical database. This would allowthe server 230 to use all of the transaction information in an analysisprocess for providing an improved method of obtaining the value of theprogram. Although the illustrated embodiment is configured to store thedata related to the sales transactions, the system can also beconfigured to store all of the iterative quote information exchangedbetween the buyer and vendor.

The analysis process allows the server 230 to utilize the sales historyrecords stored in steps 619 and 711 to generate price reports forcommunication to various third parties as well as provide a means ofcalculating current market prices for products sold in theabove-described methods. The sales history records are also used as thesource for a metric, such as those used in the process of FIGS. 6A, 6B,and 7. As shown in steps 619, 663, and 711, the server 230 continuallyupdates the historical database for each sales transaction. The analysisreporting process allows a buyer or manager of buyers to conductanalysis on the historical information. This analysis would includemulti-value cross compilation for purposes of determining purchasingstrategies, buyer effectiveness, program performance, vendorperformance, and measuring effectiveness of forward pricing as a riskmanagement strategy.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a flow diagram illustrating the logic of thenormalization process 900 is shown. The logic of the normalizationprocess 900 resides on the server 230 and processes the quotes receivedfrom commodity sellers. The logic begins at step 905 where quote data isobtained from the seller in response to the buyer's RFQ as describedabove.

Next, at step 910, routine 900 iteratively calculates the board footage(BF) of each type of lumber. Once all the totals are calculated for eachtype, routine 900 continues to step 915 where the server 230 calculatesthe total type price.

At step 915, routine 900 iteratively calculates the total type price forthe amount of each type of lumber specified in the quote. This isaccomplished by taking the total board footage (BF) calculated in block910 and multiplying the total BF by the price per MBF specified in thequote. Once all the prices are calculated for each type, routine 900continues to step 920 where the server 230 calculates the total quotedprice. At step 920, the routine 900 calculates the total price for thequote by summing all of the total type prices calculated at step 915.

At step 925, routine 900 iteratively retrieves the most current pricefor each type of lumber specified in the quote from a predefined metricsource(s). Metrics may come from publicly available information, i.e.,price of futures contracts traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange,subscription service publications such as Crowes™ or Random Lengths™accessed via the metric server adapter 435 (shown in FIG. 4), orinternally generated metrics derived from the server database. Once allthe prices are retrieved for each type, at step 930, the routine 900then iteratively calculates the market price for the quantity of eachtype of lumber in the quote. Once the totals for all types arecalculated, routine 900 continues to step 935 where the routine 900calculates the total market price for the quote by summing all the mostcurrent prices calculated in step 930. Although this example illustratesthat steps 910-920 are executed before steps 925-935, these two groupsof steps can be executed in any order, or in parallel, so long as theyare both executed before a comparison step 940.

At step 940, routine 900 compares the total quoted to the metric priceto arrive at a comparative value. In one exemplary embodiment of thecurrent invention, the comparative value is a “percent of metric” value.A value higher than one hundred (100) percent indicates a price that isabove the metric rate, and a lower percent indicates a price that isbelow the metric rate.

The operation of routine 900 can be further illustrated through anexample utilizing specific exemplary data. In the example, a buyer sendsout a request for a quote (RFQ) requesting a lot of 2×4 S&B lumberconsisting of five units of 2″×4″×8′, two units of 2″×4″×14′, and fiveunits of 2″×4″×16′. The buyer then receives quotes from three sellers.Seller A responds with a tally of six units of 2″×4″×8′, four units of2″×4″×14′, and three units of 2″×4″×16′ for $287 per thousand boardfeet. Seller B responds with a lot of five units of 2″×4″×8′, one unitof 2″×4″×14′, and six units of 2″×4″×16′ for $283 per thousand boardfeet. Seller C responds with a lot of one unit of 2″×4″×8′, five unitsof 2″×4″×14′, and five units of 2″×4″×16′ for $282 per thousand boardfeet. Suppose also that the typical unit size is 294 pieces/unit, andthe metric or reported market price for 2″×4″×8's is $287.50, for2″×4″×14's is $278.50, and for 2″×4″×16′ is $288.

Viewing the MBF prices for the respective quotes is not particularlyinformative, given that certain lengths of lumber are more desirable andpriced accordingly in the marketplace. By processing the quote fromSeller A using routine 900, we arrive at a total MBF of 29.792, giving atotal quoted price of $8,550.30. The selected metric price for the sametypes and quantities of lumber would be $8,471.12; therefore, the quotedprice would have a percent of market value of 100.93%. Processing thequote from Seller B using routine 900, we arrive at a total MBF of29.400, giving a total quoted price of $8,320.20. The selected metricprice for the same types and quantities of lumber, however, would be$8,437.21; therefore, the quoted price would have a percent of marketvalue of 98.61%. Finally, processing the quote from Seller C usingroutine 900, we arrive at a total MBF of 30.968, giving a total quotedprice of $8,732.98. The selected metric price for the same types andquantities of lumber, however, would be $8,767.66; therefore, the quotedprice would have a percent of market value of 99.38%. By looking at thepercent of selected metric value, it is apparent that the price fromSeller B is a better value. As shown in the methods of FIGS. 5-7, thisprice normalization process allows users to compare inherently differentoffers having different quality and quantity values.

In yet another example of an application of the normalization process,additional exemplary data is used to demonstrate the analysis of atransaction having one RFQ from a buyer and two different quotes from aseller, normalized to comparable product of another species. In thisexample, the buyer produces an RFQ listing the following items: onecarload of Eastern SPF (ESPF) lumber having four units of 2″×4″×8′, fourunits of 2″×4″×10′, six units of 2″×4″×12′, two units of 2″×4″×14′, andsix units of 2″×4″×16′. The vendor then responds with two differentquotes with two different unit tallies and two different prices. Thefirst response lists a quote price of $320 per thousand board feet, anda slight modification of the tally provides four units of 2″×4″×8′, fourunits of 2″×4″×10′, six units of 2″×4″×12′, three units of 2″×4″×14′,and five units of 2″×4″×16′. The second response quotes per therequested tally at a price of $322 per thousand board feet. Both quoteslist the delivery location as “Chicago.”

To display the quotes, the server 230 produces a Web page similar tothat displayed in FIG. 8C, where the vendor's modified tally isdisplayed in highlighted text. The buyer can then view summary metriccomparison or select the hypertext link “View Calculation Detail,” whichthen invokes the server 230 to produce a Web page as shown in FIG. 8D.Referring now to the Web page illustrated in FIG. 8D, the data producedby server 230 compares the response to a selected metric of a differentspecies, Western SPF (WSPF), for items of the same size, grade, andtally. The market price for the same 2×4 tally of ESPF and WSPF are thussimultaneously compared. In an example, Eastern quoted at $322 perthousand board feet, Western metric (Random Lengths™ Jun. 26, 2000 printprice plus freight of $80 as defined in Metric Manager) for the sametally being $331.791. This metric comparison is also represented asQuote/Metric Value or Eastern price representing 0.970490, or 97% ofcomparable Western product.

In review of the normalization process, the buyer must select a metricsource for price information for a defined item given a set ofattributes, i.e., grade, species, and size. The metric may then bemapped to the RFQ item for comparison and does not have to be theequivalent of the item. For instance, as explained in theabove-described example, it may be desirable to map the marketrelationship of one commodity item to another. The most current pricingdata for the metric is electronically moved from the selected source tothe server 230. As mentioned above, metrics may come from publiclyavailable information, (i.e., price of futures contracts traded on theChicago Mercantile Exchange), or subscription services, (i.e., Crowes™or Random Lengths™ publications), or be an internal metric generated bythe server 230. This metric data is used in the normalization processfor all calculations, as described with reference to the above-describedmethods.

While various embodiments of the invention have been illustrated anddescribed, it will be appreciated that within the scope of the appendedclaims, various changes can be made therein without departing from thespirit of the invention. For example, in an agricultural commodity, anorder for Wheat U.S. #2 HRW could be compared to a selected metric ofWheat U.S. #2 Soft White, similar to how different species are analyzedin the above-described example.

The above system and method can be used to purchase other commodityitems, such as in the trade of livestock. In such a variation, orderinformation such as a lumber tally would be substituted for a meat type,grade, and cut. Other examples of commodity items include agriculturalproducts, metals, or any other items of commerce having several orderparameters.

1. In a networked service provider environment, a system comprising: aservice provider server comprising: a network interface; anon-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executableinstructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-executableinstructions, when executed, implement a metric manager and a metricapplication; and a processor in communication with the network interfaceand the computer-readable medium, wherein the processor is configured toexecute the computer-executable instructions stored on thecomputer-readable medium; wherein: the metric manager is programmed tomanage at least one evaluation service and a plurality of predefinedinstructions for adapting metric data, the metric application isprogrammed to manage invocation of the at least one evaluation serviceand execution of one or more predefined instructions for adapting metricdata that pertain to the at least one evaluation service, and to manageone or more interfaces that facilitate communications with the serviceprovider server, and in operation, the metric application configures theservice provider server to: receive, from a remotely located buyer-agentcomputing device, via the network interface, one or more productspecification data sets, wherein each product specification data setidentifies at least one item defined by a plurality of attributes havingattribute data that includes two or more parameter values, or aplurality of items that differ in accordance with at least one parametervalue, wherein the parameter value or values represent attributes thatare variable for the identified item or items; receive a plurality ofprice data sets responsive to the one or more product specification datasets, wherein each received price data set identifies at least one itemthat is responsive to a respective item identified in the one or moreproduct specification data sets, wherein the at least one item isdefined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includesat least one parameter value, wherein each received price data setrepresents an offer to sell and includes price data for the at least oneitem, and wherein at least one item identified in a received price dataset differs by at least one parameter value from the respective item asidentified in the product specification data set and/or another receivedprice data set; and for at least a subset of the received price datasets, invoke the at least one evaluation service to automaticallyproduce one or more normalized metric values for at least one itemidentified in each of the price data sets in the subset, wherein thesubset includes at least one received price data set that identifies atleast one item that differs by at least one parameter value from therespective item as identified in the product specification data setand/or another received price data set, and wherein invoking the atleast one evaluation service causes the metric application to: obtain,from at least one data source accessible to the service provider server,metric data for one or more items responsive to attributes of the atleast one item identified in the price data set, wherein each of the oneor more responsive items in the metric data is defined by a plurality ofattributes having attribute data that includes at least one parametervalue, and wherein the metric data includes market reference price datafor the one or more responsive items at a particular time or period oftime; algorithmically process the attribute data for each responsiveitem in the metric data and the attribute data of the at least one itemidentified in the price data set to dynamically identify anydifferences, wherein the identified differences in the attribute dataare used to contextually determine which of the predefined instructionsare applicable to the responsive item in the metric data; normalize themetric data by executing the predefined instructions that weredetermined applicable to the responsive item in the metric data, whereinexecution of the predefined instructions causes one or more adjustmentvalues to be generated and applied to the market reference price datafor at least one responsive item that differs by at least one parametervalue from the at least one item identified in the price data set,transforming the market reference price data for the at least oneresponsive item into normalized metric data; and produce at least onenormalized metric value for the at least one item identified in theprice data set using the normalized metric data; wherein the metricapplication is further programmed to manage at least one interface that,in operation, configures the service provider server to communicate, viathe network interface, at least a subset of the received price data setsand the at least one normalized metric value produced for the at leastone item identified in each of the communicated price data sets, to atleast the remotely located buyer-agent computing device from which theone or more product specification data sets were received.
 2. The systemof claim 1, wherein the metric application is separate from the metricmanager, and wherein coordinated operation of the metric applicationwith the metric manager enables the at least one evaluation service toalgorithmically process the attribute data to dynamically identify atleast one relationship comprising a difference within the attributedata, including a new or previously unknown relationship, withoutrelying on a pre-constructed model having a predefined relationship thatremains fixed within the model and outputs predictable results.
 3. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluationservice and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions thatpertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metricapplication to obtain metric data from two or more different datasources and to produce the at least one normalized metric value for theat least one item identified in the price data set by generating andapplying adjustment values to the market reference price data in themetric data obtained from the two or more different data sources, andinputting the normalized metric data into at least one predefinedalgorithm that was preassociated with the at least one evaluationservice, wherein the at least one normalized metric value produced forthe at least one item identified in the price data set is a syntheticvalue.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the parameter values representvariable attributes including a grade, a rating measure, a species, anitem type, a brand, a quantity, a size, a unit of measure, a tally, alocation, a method of delivery, a delivery date, a time of service, awarranty, a payment term, or a transaction type.
 5. The system of claim1, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage atleast one interface that, in operation, enables a buyer-agent computingdevice to predefine, for exclusive use by a buyer-agent, at least oneinstruction for adapting metric data or to modify at least onepreviously predefined instruction for adapting metric data, and furthercauses the metric manager to store the at least one predefined ormodified instruction for retrieval when the at least one evaluationservice is invoked by the metric application, wherein coordinatedoperation of the metric application with the metric manager enables theat least one evaluation service to identify and execute the predefinedinstructions that pertain to the buyer agent, providing an evaluationservice that is customized for the buyer agent without custom-codingcomputer-executable instructions that comprise the metric application.6. The system of claim 1, wherein the metric application is furtherprogrammed to manage at least one interface that, in operation, enablesa buyer-agent computing device to predefine one or more instructions foradapting metric data, to preassociate the one or more instructions withattributes of an item, parameter, metric data source, event, and/or oneor more other instructions, and to store the predefined andpreassociated instructions in the metric manager for retrieval when theat least one evaluation service is invoked by the metric application,wherein the instructions are predefined and preassociated by thebuyer-agent computing device without regard to the item or itemsidentified in any specific price data set.
 7. The system of claim 1,wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at leastone interface that, in operation, prompts a buyer-agent computing deviceto define one or more attributes associated with an item identified inthe product specification data set and/or to manage at least oneinterface that, in operation, enables a buyer-agent computing device topredefine one or more attributes to be associated with an item and tostore the one or more predefined attributes in association with theitem, wherein the stored attributes are automatically associated withthe item when the at least one evaluation service is invoked by themetric application in response to receiving from the buyer-agentcomputing device a product specification data set that identifies theitem.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein execution of at least onepredefined instruction that pertains to the buyer-agent and the at leastone evaluation service causes the metric application to filter, forinclusion or exclusion, the metric data for one or more responsive itemsusing one or more predefined control values, criteria, or parameters,and to use only a filtered segment of the metric data to produce the atleast one normalized metric value for the at least one item identifiedin the price data set.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein invocation ofthe at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or morepredefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluationservice causes the metric application to use only metric data resultingfrom a purchase or executed contract to produce the at least onenormalized metric value for the at least one item identified in theprice data set.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein invocation of the atleast one evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefinedinstructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causesthe metric application to use only metric data resulting from acomputer-based interaction and comprising only electronically-createdmetric data to produce the at least one normalized metric value for theat least one item identified in the price data set, wherein theelectronically-created metric data does not include human-reportedtransaction data or transaction data that was manually transcribed intoa digital format.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein invocation of theat least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or morepredefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluationservice causes the metric application to generate at least oneadjustment value corresponding to each parameter value that differs fromthe parameter value of the item identified in the price data set usingone or more predefined algorithms that were preassociated with the atleast one evaluation service, including a least squares or curve-fitalgorithm, wherein the at least one adjustment value serves to minimizea difference between the metric data for the item with the differingparameter and (1) an average of the market reference price data ofresponsive items in the metric data at the particular time or period oftime, or (2) an average of market reference price data generated from acontrol group of items that are responsive to at least one parameter ofan identified item, and wherein the at least one adjustment value isapplied to the market reference price data associated with theresponsive item with the differing parameter value to normalize thedata.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein invocation of the at least oneevaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefinedinstructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causesthe metric application to convert data defined by a unit-of-measure intoa standardized or common unit of measure and to produce the at least onenormalized metric value for the at least one item identified in theprice data set using data possessing consistent units of measure, andwherein the transformation of the market reference price data for the atleast one responsive item occurs independent of the unit-of-measureconversion of the data.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein invocation ofthe at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or morepredefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluationservice causes the metric application to generate at least onecomparison value, wherein the value of the difference between the pricedata associated with the at least one item identified in the price dataset and the normalized metric value produced for the at least one itemis divided by the normalized metric value for the at least one item, togenerate the at least one comparison value as a ratio or percent. 14.The system of claim 1, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluationservice and/or execution one or more predefined instructions thatpertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metricapplication to automatically query one or more databases or data sourcesaccessible to the service provider server or to monitor one or more datastreams to obtain metric data for one or more items responsive toattributes of the at least one item identified in the price data set.15. The system of claim 1, wherein the metric application is furtherprogrammed to manage at least one interface that, in operation,facilitates data communication in XML format, enabling the metricapplication to dynamically change, dynamically route, and/orpre-configure the data for movement of the data in an integrated dataexchange.
 16. The system of claim 1, wherein the metric manager isprogrammed to manage one or more predefined instructions that areconditionally executed by the metric application, including: one or moreformulas operationally combining data values and using variablesrelating to a plurality of items, parameters, events, or metric datasources; or a combination of rules, variables or criteria, includingvalidation rules, relating to a plurality of items, parameters, events,metric data sources, obtained metric data, or normalized metric values,the execution of which may be conditional, priority weighted,sequential, recursive, or subject to another prespecified method ofcontrol; or a combination of evaluation services, wherein at least oneevaluation service is further combined with at least one predefinedinstruction that specifies employing a process step, action, function,or subroutine, or combined with at least one other evaluation service,the execution of which may be conditional, priority weighted,sequential, recursive, or subject to another prespecified method ofcontrol.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein invocation of the at leastone evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefinedinstructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causesthe metric application to dynamically apply all of the predefinedinstructions determined applicable to the responsive item in the metricdata and to only produce the normalized metric value for the at leastone item when all adjustments resulting from the instructions have beenapplied and to only communicate the resulting normalized metric valuefor the at least one item to the buyer-agent computing device when theone or more predefined validation rules have been satisfied.
 18. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the metric application is further programmedto manage multiple visual interfaces that, in operation, configure theservice provider server to communicate for alternate or simultaneousvisual display at least a subset of the received price data sets and theat least one normalized metric value produced for the at least one itemto the remotely located buyer-agent computing device, and wherein themultiple visual interfaces facilitate interactions that enable thebuyer-agent to expose underlying data in one or more layers of detail,to display data in one or more pop-up windows, to display linkedinformation, or to display the same data in a different form or from oneor more different sources of metric data or as determined at a differentperiod of time.
 19. The system of claim 1, wherein the metricapplication is further programmed to manage one or more interfaces that,in operation, facilitate via the service provider server a dynamicnegotiation between the buyer-agent computing device and at least oneseller-agent computing device that provided a price data set responsiveto at least one item identified in the product specification data set,wherein at least one additional price data set is received, via thenetwork interface, from the at least one seller-agent computing devicein response to a counter-offer from the buyer-agent computing device,wherein the metric application produces at least one normalized metricvalue for at least one item identified in the at least one additionalprice data set, and to communicate, via the network interface, the atleast one additional price data set and the at least one normalizedmetric value produced for the at least one item to the remotely locatedbuyer-agent computing device from which the product specification dataset was received, and wherein the dynamic negotiation continues until anoffer or counter-offer is accepted or the dynamic negotiation isterminated.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein facilitating a dynamicnegotiation includes facilitating, via the network interface, streamingof voice communications between the buyer-agent computing device and theat least one seller-agent computing device.
 21. The system of claim 1,wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/orexecution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the atleast one evaluation service causes the metric application to evaluatethe metric data for satisfaction of one or more predefined validationrules and/or statistical criteria and to only produce the normalizedmetric value for the at least one item identified in the price data setusing metric data that satisfies the predefined validation rules and/orstatistical criteria, wherein the one or more predefined validationrules and/or statistical criteria cause the metric application toevaluate the metric data for at least one of: total volume in units peritem per period of time specified; frequency/liquidity of the metricdata; concentration/fragmentation of the metric data by the type oftransaction; or concentration/fragmentation of the metric data by thesource of the metric data.
 22. The system of claim 1, wherein invocationof the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or morepredefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluationservice causes the metric application to produce the at least onenormalized metric value for the at least one item identified in a pricedata set within a specified period of time from receipt of the pricedata set by the service provider server, or with sufficient speed thatthe price data set and the at least one normalized metric value for theat least one item identified in the price data set are communicated tothe buyer-agent computing device in near real-time, wherein nearreal-time can vary by the environment of the transaction and isstatistically measurable as occurring before the offer to sell asrepresented by the price data set is no longer actionable.
 23. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluationservice and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions thatpertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metricapplication to obtain updated market reference price data from at leastone source of metric data accessible to the service provider server,wherein the updated metric data is for one or more items responsive toattributes of the at least one item previously identified in a receivedprice data set and comprises more-current market reference price datafor the at least one item and/or excludes previously-obtained metricdata that is no longer responsive to the at least one item or no longerrepresents market reference price data associated with the at least oneitem at a particular time or period of time, and further causes themetric application to produce at least one more-current normalizedmetric value for the at least one item identified in the price data setusing the more-current metric data, and wherein at least one predefinedinstruction that pertains to the at least one evaluation service causesthe metric application to automatically update the at least onenormalized metric value for the at least one item continuously, at apredefined time, over a predefined interval of time, or upon occurrenceof a predefined event, wherein an interval of time can include acontinuously sliding interval of time that represents the most currentperiod of time.
 24. The system of claim 1, wherein the price data forthe at least one item identified in at least one received price data setis specified as a formula in which the price is derived at one or moretimes in the future using at least in part one or more specifiedmarket-prices or metric values that are to be generated or reported atone or more times in the future, wherein invocation of the at least oneevaluation service causes the metric application to automatically obtainthe one or more market-prices or to generate the one or more metricvalues and to determine the price for the at least one item inaccordance with the formula, and further causes the metric applicationto produce at least one normalized metric value for the at least oneitem identified in the price data set using normalized metric data forthe at least one item, and to manage at least one interface that, inoperation, configures the service provider server to communicate, viathe network interface, the price determined for the at least one itemidentified in the price data set and the at least one normalized metricvalue produced for the at least one item to at least the buyer-agentcomputing device from which the product specification data set wasreceived.
 25. The system of claim 1, wherein execution of one or morepredefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluationservice causes the metric application to obtain metric data for at leastone alternate item, wherein the alternate item is a substitute itemand/or differs by at least one parameter value from the at least oneitem identified in the price data set, and further causes the metricapplication to produce at least one normalized metric value for the atleast one item identified in the price data set using, at least in part,the normalized metric data for the alternate item.
 26. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manageat least one interface that facilitates an integrated data exchangebetween at least one application running on a remote computing deviceunder control of the buyer-agent and the processor of the serviceprovider server and/or facilitates an integrated data exchange with atleast one other computing device in communication with the serviceprovider server, and to execute movement of data in the integrated dataexchange via the network interface, wherein the integrated data exchangedoes not include a pre-mapped or pre-structured electronic datainterchange (EDI) transmission.
 27. The system of claim 1, wherein themetric application is further programmed to impute one or more itemattributes or parameter values using one or more mathematical orstatistical processes applied using at least one known attribute orparameter value of the at least one item identified in the productspecification data set or identified in a previously received price dataset, and/or one or more instructions previously received from theremotely located buyer-agent computing device.
 28. The system of claim1, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/orexecution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the atleast one evaluation service causes the metric application to expose toat least one tracking system at least a subset of the data received orgenerated by the service provider server, wherein the exposed data isdefined by a time or period of time.
 29. The system of claim 1, whereinthe service provider server is accessible, via the network interface, tothe buyer-agent computing device without specialized applicationsoftware on the buyer-agent computing device and without a need tosynchronize buyer-agent data across multiple computing devices used bythe buyer-agent.
 30. The system of claim 1, wherein the metricapplication is further programmed to manage one or more interfaces tocontrol one or more preprogrammed utilities or functions running on theservice provider server or the remotely located buyer-agent computingdevice that pertain to the at least one evaluation service invoked bythe metric application, and to execute movement of data in an integrateddata exchange between the service provider server and at least onepreprogrammed utility or function.
 31. The system of claim 1, whereinthe at least one normalized metric value represents relevant marketinformation dynamically produced for use by the buyer-agent to evaluatea specific offer to sell, and wherein invocation of the at least oneevaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefinedinstructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service doesnot cause the metric application to: (1) identify and value the one ormore differences between the at least one item identified in the pricedata set and the at least one item identified in one or more otherreceived price data sets; (2) compare the price data of the at least oneitem identified in the price data set to a last cost, historic cost, oran average cost for the item previously paid by the buyer-agent; (3)estimate an available supply of the item and demand for the item in themarketplace to identify a price level at which the item is most likelyto be bought or sold; or (4) input market reference price data into apre-constructed model to produce one or more market values.
 32. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein at least one product specification data setidentifies a plurality of items that vary by at least one parametervalue and are to be evaluated as a bundled item or wherein at least oneitem identified in a product specification data set is a combined itemthat represents a packaged product or transaction, a tally, or anassembly of one or more component parts defined by a plurality ofattributes having attribute data that includes at least one parametervalue, wherein the parameter value or values represent attributes thatare variable for the identified item or items, wherein a received pricedata set identifies at least one bundled or combined item or transactionthat is responsive to a respective bundled or combined item ortransaction identified in the at least one product specification dataset, wherein the at least one bundled or combined item or transaction isdefined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includesat least one parameter value, wherein the received price data setrepresents an offer to sell and includes price data comprising a singlecombined price for the at least one bundled or combined item ortransaction, and wherein the at least one bundled or combined item ortransaction identified in the received price data set differs by atleast one parameter value from the respective bundled or combined itemor transaction as identified in the at least one product specificationdata set and/or another received price data set; and for the receivedprice data set, invoke at least one evaluation service to automaticallyproduce one or more normalized metric values for at least one bundled orcombined item or transaction identified in the price data set, whereininvoking the at least one evaluation service causes the metricapplication to: obtain, from at least one data source accessible to theservice provider server, metric data for one or more items or componentparts responsive to attributes of the items or component parts of the atleast one bundled or combined item or transaction identified in theprice data set, wherein each of the one or more responsive items orcomponent parts in the metric data is defined by a plurality ofattributes having attribute data that includes at least one parametervalue, and wherein the metric data includes market reference price datafor the one or more responsive items or component parts at a particulartime or period of time; and algorithmically process the attribute datafor each responsive item or component part in the metric data and theattribute data of the items or component parts of the at least onebundled or combined item or transaction identified in the price data setto dynamically identify any differences, wherein the identifieddifferences in the attribute data are used by the metric manager tocontextually determine which of the predefined instructions areapplicable to the responsive item or component part in the metric data;normalize the metric data by executing the predefined instructions thatwere determined applicable to the responsive item or component part inthe metric data, wherein execution of the predefined instructions causesone or more adjustment values to be generated and applied to the marketreference price data for at least one responsive item or component partthat differs by at least one parameter value from the item or componentpart of the at least one bundled or combined item or transactionidentified in the price data set, transforming the market-referenceprice data for the at least one responsive item or component part intonormalized metric data; produce at least one normalized metric value foreach of the plurality of items or component parts of the at least onebundled or combined item or transaction using the normalized metric datafor the responsive item or component part; and generate a normalizedmetric value for the bundled or combined item using the normalizedmetric values produced for the plurality of items or component parts;and wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage atleast one interface that, in operation, configures the service providerserver to communicate, via the network interface, at least the receivedprice data set and the at least one normalized metric value produced forthe at least one bundled or combined item identified in the communicatedprice data set, to at least the remotely located buyer-agent computingdevice from which the at least one product specification data set wasreceived.
 33. In a networked service provider environment, a systemcomprising: a service provider server comprising: a network interface; anon-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executableinstructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-executableinstructions, when executed, implement a metric manager and a metricapplication; and a processor in communication with the network interfaceand the computer-readable medium, wherein the processor is configured toexecute the computer-executable instructions stored on thecomputer-readable medium; wherein: the metric manager is programmed tomanage at least one evaluation service and a plurality of predefinedinstructions for adapting metric data, the metric application isprogrammed to manage invocation of the at least one evaluation serviceand execution of one or more predefined instructions for adapting metricdata that pertain to the at least one evaluation service, and to manageone or more interfaces that facilitate communications with the serviceprovider server, and in operation, the metric application configures theservice provider server to: receive, from a remotely located buyer-agentcomputing device, via the network interface, one or more productspecification data sets, wherein each product specification data setidentifies at least one item defined by a plurality of attributes havingattribute data that includes two or more parameter values, or aplurality of items that differ in accordance with at least one parametervalue, wherein the parameter value or values represent attributes thatare variable for the identified item or items; receive a plurality ofprice data sets responsive to the one or more product specification datasets, wherein each received price data set identifies at least one itemthat is responsive to a respective item identified in the one or moreproduct specification data sets, wherein the at least one item isdefined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includesat least one parameter value, wherein each received price data setrepresents an offer to sell and includes price data for the at least oneitem, and wherein at least one item identified in a received price dataset differs by at least one parameter value from the respective item asidentified in the product specification data set and/or another receivedprice data set; and for at least a subset of the received price datasets, invoke the at least one evaluation service to automaticallygenerate one or more relative value metrics for at least one itemidentified in each of the price data sets in the subset, whereininvoking the at least one evaluation service causes the metricapplication to: obtain, from at least one data source accessible to theservice provider server, metric data for one or more items responsive toattributes of the at least one item identified in the price data set,wherein each of the one or more responsive items in the metric data isdefined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includesat least one parameter value, and wherein the metric data includesmarket reference price data for the one or more responsive items at aparticular time or period of time; algorithmically process the attributedata for each responsive item in the metric data and the attribute dataof the at least one item identified in the price data set to dynamicallyidentify any differences, wherein the identified differences in theattribute data are used to contextually determine which of thepredefined instructions are applicable to the responsive item in themetric data; normalize the metric data by executing the predefinedinstructions that were determined applicable to the responsive item inthe metric data, wherein execution of the predefined instructions causesone or more adjustment values to be generated and applied to the marketreference price data for at least one responsive item that differs by atleast one parameter value from the at least one item identified in theprice data set, transforming the market reference price data for theresponsive item into normalized metric data; produce at least onenormalized metric value for the at least one item identified in theprice data set using the normalized metric data; and generate one ormore relative value metrics for the at least one item identified in theprice data set, wherein the price data for the at least one item isdivided by the at least one normalized metric value produced for the atleast one item to generate a ratio or index value; and wherein themetric application is further programmed to manage at least oneinterface that, in operation, configures the service provider server tocommunicate, via the network interface, at least a subset of thereceived price data sets and the one or more relative value metricsgenerated for the at least one item identified in each of thecommunicated price data sets, to at least the remotely locatedbuyer-agent computing device from which the one or more productspecification data sets were received.
 34. The system of claim 33,wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/orexecution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the atleast one evaluation service causes the metric application to rank orsort the plurality of received price data sets by the one or morerelative value metrics generated for the at least one item identified ineach price data set, and to communicate only a ranked or sorted subsetof the received price data sets to the buyer agent computing device, andfurther causes the metric application to control the order and/or numberof price data sets communicated to the buyer-agent computing device bylimiting the price data sets to a ranked or sorted subset of thereceived price data sets.
 35. The system of claim 33, wherein the one ormore relative value metrics measure the price data for the at least oneitem identified in the price data set in relation to the at least onenormalized metric value for the at least one item, and wherein a pricedata set with the lowest relative value metric for the at least one itemrepresents an optimal market value among the plurality of received pricedata sets.
 36. The system of claim 33, wherein at least one of theplurality of price data sets identifies at least one item that is not aperfect substitute for the item as identified in another price data setin that the at least one item is an alternate item or an item thatdiffers by one or more parameter values from the item as identified inthe other price data set, and wherein the one or more relative valuemetrics generated for the at least one item identified in each of theplurality of price data sets provide the buyer-agent an objectivemeasure with which to compare the item or items across the plurality ofreceived price data sets, including the one or more price data sets thatidentify an alternate item or an item that differs by at least oneparameter value.
 37. The system of claim 33, wherein invocation of theat least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or morepredefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluationservice causes the metric application to obtain metric data from two ormore different data sources and to produce the at least one normalizedmetric value for the at least one item identified in the price data setby generating and applying adjustment values to the market referenceprice data in the metric data obtained from the two or more differentsources, and inputting the normalized metric data into at least onepredefined algorithm associated with the at least one evaluationservice, wherein the at least one normalized metric value produced forthe at least one item identified in the price data set is a syntheticvalue.
 38. The system of claim 33, wherein the service provider serveris accessible, via the network interface, to the buyer-agent computingdevice without specialized application software on the buyer-agentcomputing devices and without a need to synchronize buyer-agent dataacross multiple computing devices used by the buyer-agent.
 39. Thesystem of claim 33, wherein the metric application is further programmedto manage multiple visual interfaces that, in operation, configure theservice provider server to communicate for alternate or simultaneousvisual display at least a subset of the received price data sets and theone or more relative value metrics generated for the at least one itemto the remotely located buyer agent computing device, and wherein themultiple visual interfaces facilitate interactions that enable thebuyer-agent to expose underlying data in one or more layers of detail,to display data in one or more pop-up windows, to display linkedinformation, or to display the same data in a different form or from oneor more different sources of metric data or as determined at a differentperiod of time.
 40. The system of claim 33, wherein the parameter valuesrepresent variable attributes including a grade, a rating measure, aspecies, an item type, a brand, a quantity, a size, a unit of measure, atally, a location, a method of delivery, a delivery date, a time ofservice, a warranty, a payment term, or a transaction type.
 41. Thesystem of claim 33, wherein the metric application is further programmedto manage at least one interface that, in operation, prompts abuyer-agent computing device to define one or more attributes associatedwith an item identified in the product specification data set and/or tomanage at least one interface that, in operation, enables a buyer-agentcomputing device to predefine one or more attributes to be associatedwith an item identified in the product specification data set and tostore the one or more defined or predefined attributes in associationwith the item, wherein the stored attributes are automaticallyassociated with the item when the at least one evaluation service isinvoked by the metric application in response to receiving from thebuyer-agent computing device a product specification data set thatidentifies the item.
 42. The system of claim 33, wherein the metricapplication is further programmed to manage at least one interface that,in operation, enables a buyer-agent computing device to predefine, forexclusive use by a buyer-agent associated with the buyer-agent computingdevice, at least one instruction for adapting metric data or to modifyat least one previously predefined instruction for adapting metric data,and further causes the metric manager to store the at least onepredefined or modified instruction for retrieval when the at least oneevaluation service is invoked by the metric application, whereincoordinated operation of the metric application with the metric managerenables the at least one evaluation service to identify and execute thepredefined instructions that pertain to the buyer agent, providing anevaluation service that is customized for the buyer-agent withoutcustom-coding computer-executable instructions that comprise the metricapplication.
 43. The system of claim 33, wherein the metric applicationis further programmed to manage at least one interface that, inoperation, enables a buyer-agent computing device to predefine one ormore instructions for adapting metric data, to preassociate the one ormore instructions with attributes of an item, parameter, metric datasource, event, and/or one or more other instructions, and to store thepredefined and preassociated instructions in the metric manager forretrieval when the at least one evaluation service is invoked by themetric application, wherein the instructions are predefined andpreassociated by the buyer-agent computing device without regard to theitem or items identified in any specific price data set.
 44. The systemof claim 33, wherein the metric application is separate the metricmanager, and wherein coordinated operation of the metric applicationwith the metric manager enables the at least one evaluation service toalgorithmically process the attribute data to dynamically identify atleast one relationship comprising a difference within the attributedata, including a new or previously unknown relationship, withoutrelying on a pre-constructed model having a predefined relationship thatremains fixed within the model and outputs predictable results.
 45. Thesystem of claim 33, wherein the metric application is further programmedto manage at least one interface that, in operation, facilitates datacommunication in XML format, enabling the metric application todynamically change, dynamically route, and/or pre-configure the data formovement of the data in an integrated data exchange.
 46. The system ofclaim 33, wherein the metric manager is programmed to manage one or morepredefined instructions that are conditionally executed by the metricapplication, including: one or more formulas operationally combiningdata values and using variables relating to a plurality of items,parameters, events, or metric data sources; or a combination of rules,variables or criteria, including validation rules, relating to aplurality of items, parameters, events, metric data sources, obtainedmetric data, normalized metric values or relative value metrics, theexecution of which may be conditional, priority weighted, sequential,recursive, or subject to another prespecified method of control; or acombination of evaluation services, wherein at least one evaluationservice is further combined with at least one predefined instructionthat specifies employing a process step, action, function, orsubroutine, or combined with at least one other evaluation service, theexecution of which may be conditional, priority weighted, sequential,recursive, or subject to another prespecified method of control.
 47. Thesystem of claim 33, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluationservice and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions thatpertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metricapplication to generate the one or more relative value metrics for theat least one item identified in a price data set within a specifiedperiod of time from receipt of the price data set by the serviceprovider server, or with sufficient speed that the price data set andthe one or more relative value metrics for the at least one itemidentified in the price data set are communicated to the buyer-agentcomputing device in near real-time, wherein near real-time can vary bythe environment of the transaction and is statistically measurable asoccurring before the offer to sell as represented by the price data setis no longer actionable.
 48. The system of claim 33, wherein invocationof the at least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or morepredefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluationservice causes the metric application to manage one or more interfacesthat enable at least one seller-agent and/or third-party intermediary tostream or expose, without prompting by the service provider server, oneor more price data sets representing actionable offers-to-sell one ormore items, or one or more catalogs or price lists that identifyactionable price data for one or more items, via the network interface,to the service provider server.
 49. The system of claim 33, wherein themetric application is programmed to manage at least one interface thatenables the buyer-agent to generate at least one request for quote (RFQ)that identifies at least one product specification data set comprisingthe at least one item, and further causes the service provider server tocommunicate the RFQ, via the network interface, to at least oneseller-agent computing device on behalf of the buyer-agent, and toreceive one or more price data sets responsive to the at least one itemidentified in the RFQ from at least one seller-agent computing device,via the network interface, wherein each received price data setrepresents an offer to sell and includes price data for at least oneitem, wherein the metric application is caused to automatically generateone or more relative value metrics for the at least one item identifiedin each received price data set, and to communicate, via the networkinterface, at least a subset of the received price data sets and the oneor more relative value metrics generated for the at least one itemidentified in each of the price data sets, to at least the remotelylocated buyer-agent computing device from which the RFQ was received.50. The system of claim 33, wherein the metric application is furtherprogrammed to manage one or more interfaces that, in operation,facilitate via the service provider server a dynamic negotiation betweenthe buyer-agent computing device and at least one seller-agent computingdevice that provided a price data set responsive to at least one itemidentified in the product specification data set, wherein at least oneadditional price data set is received, via the network interface, fromthe at least one seller-agent computing device in response to acounter-offer from the buyer-agent computing device, wherein the metricapplication produces at least one relative value metric for at least oneitem identified in the at least one additional price data set, and tocommunicate, via the network interface, the at least one additionalprice data set and the at least one relative value metric produced forthe at least one item to the remotely located buyer-agent computingdevice from which the product specification data set was received, andwherein the dynamic negotiation continues until an offer orcounter-offer is accepted or the dynamic negotiation is terminated. 51.The system of claim 33, wherein invocation of the at least oneevaluation service and/or execution one or more predefined instructionsthat pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metricapplication to automatically query one or more databases or data sourcesaccessible to the service provider server or to monitor one or more datastreams to obtain metric data for one or more items responsive toattributes of the at least one item identified in the price data set.52. The system of claim 33, wherein invocation of the at least oneevaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefinedinstructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causethe metric application to use only metric data resulting from a purchaseor executed contract to produce the at least one relative value metricfor the at least one item identified in the price data set.
 53. Thesystem of claim 33, wherein invocation of the at least one evaluationservice and/or execution of one or more predefined instructions thatpertain to the at least one evaluation service cause the metricapplication to use only metric data resulting from a computer-basedinteraction and comprising only electronically-created metric data toproduce the at least one relative value metric for the at least one itemidentified in the price data set, wherein the electronically-createdmetric data does not include human-reported transaction data ortransaction data that was manually transcribed into a digital format.54. The system of claim 33, where execution of at least one predefinedinstruction that pertains to the buyer agent causes the metricapplication to manage at least one interface that facilitates anintegrated data exchange, via the network interface, on behalf of thebuyer-agent wherein at least one purchase notice is automaticallytransmitted to the at least one seller-agent computing device thatprovided at least one price data set with a lowest relative value metricfor the at least one item in the received plurality of price data sets.55. The system of claim 33, wherein invocation of at least onesubsequent evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefinedinstructions that pertain to the at least one subsequent evaluationservice causes the metric application to generate at least oneevaluation metric that provides a predefined performance measure,wherein the at least one normalized metric value generated for the atleast one item identified in the price data set, or at least one of theone or more relative value metrics generated for the at least one itembased at least in part on the at least one normalized metric value, is apredefined data element that is automatically input into at least onepredefined algorithm associated with the subsequent evaluation serviceto generate, at least in part, the predefined performance measure, andto manage at least one interface to communicate, via the networkinterface, the at least one evaluation metric to at least the remotelylocated buyer-agent computing device and/or at least one outputspecified in the one or more predefined instructions that pertain to theat least one subsequent evaluation service.
 56. The system of claim 33,wherein at least one product specification data set identifies aplurality of items that vary by at least one parameter value and are tobe evaluated as a bundled item or wherein at least one item identifiedin a product specification data set is a combined item that represents apackaged product or transaction, a tally, or an assembly of one or morecomponent parts defined by a plurality of attributes having attributedata that includes at least one parameter value, wherein the parametervalue or values represent attributes that are variable for theidentified item or items, wherein a received price data set identifiesat least one bundled or combined item or transaction that is responsiveto a respective bundled or combined item or transaction identified inthe at least one product specification data set, wherein the at leastone bundled or combined item or transaction is defined by a plurality ofattributes having attribute data that includes at least one parametervalue, wherein the received price data set represents an offer to selland includes price data comprising a single combined price for the atleast one bundled or combined item or transaction, and wherein the atleast one bundled or combined item or transaction identified in thereceived price data set differs by at least one parameter value from therespective bundled or combined item or transaction as identified in theat least one product specification data set and/or another receivedprice data set; and for the received price data set, invoke at least oneevaluation service to automatically produce one or more normalizedmetric values for at least one bundled or combined item or transactionidentified in the price data set, wherein invoking the at least oneevaluation service causes the metric application to: obtain, from atleast one data source accessible to the service provider server, metricdata for one or more items or component parts responsive to attributesof the items or component parts of the at least one bundled or combineditem or transaction identified in the price data set, wherein each ofthe one or more responsive items or component parts in the metric datais defined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data thatincludes at least one parameter value, and wherein the metric dataincludes market reference price data for the one or more responsiveitems or component parts at a particular time or period of time; andalgorithmically process the attribute data for each responsive item orcomponent part in the metric data and the attribute data of the items orcomponent parts of the at least one bundled or combined item ortransaction identified in the price data set to dynamically identify anydifferences, wherein the identified differences in the attribute dataare used by the metric manager to contextually determine which of thepredefined instructions are applicable to the responsive item orcomponent part in the metric data; normalize the metric data byexecuting the predefined instructions that were determined applicable tothe responsive item or component part in the metric data, whereinexecution of the predefined instructions causes one or more adjustmentvalues to be generated and applied to the market reference price datafor at least one responsive item or component part that differs by atleast one parameter value from the item or component part of the atleast one bundled or combined item or transaction identified in theprice data set, transforming the market-reference price data for the atleast one responsive item or component part into normalized metric data;produce at least one normalized metric value for each of the pluralityof items or component parts of the at least one bundled or combined itemor transaction using the normalized metric data for the responsive itemor component part; generate a normalized metric value for the bundled orcombined item using the normalized metric values produced for theplurality of items or component parts; and generate one or more relativevalue metrics for the at least one bundled or combined item identifiedin the price data set, wherein the single price identified for the atleast one item is divided by the at least one normalized metric valuegenerated for the at least one item to produce a ratio or index value;and wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage atleast one interface that, in operation, configures the service providerserver to communicate, via the network interface, at least the receivedprice data set and the one or more relative value metrics produced forthe at least one bundled or combined item identified in the communicatedprice data set, to at least the remotely located buyer-agent computingdevice from which the at least one product specification data set wasreceived.
 57. In a networked service provider environment, a systemcomprising: a service provider server comprising: a network interface; anon-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executableinstructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-executableinstructions, when executed, implement a metric manager and a metricapplication; and a processor in communication with the network interfaceand the computer-readable medium, wherein the processor is configured toexecute the computer-executable instructions stored in thecomputer-readable medium; wherein: the metric manager is programmed tomanage at least one evaluation service and a plurality of predefinedinstructions for adapting metric data, the metric application isprogrammed to manage invocation of the at least one evaluation serviceand execution of one or more predefined instructions for adapting metricdata that pertain to the at least one evaluation service, and to manageone or more interfaces that facilitate communications with the serviceprovider server, and in operation, the metric application configures theservice provider server to: receive, from a remotely located buyer-agentcomputing device, via the network interface, one or more productspecification data sets, wherein each product specification data setidentifies at least one item defined by a plurality of attributes havingattribute data that includes two or more parameter values, or aplurality of items that differ in accordance with at least one parametervalue, wherein the parameter value or values represent attributes thatare variable for the identified item or items; receive a plurality ofprice data sets responsive to the one or more product specification datasets, wherein each received price data set identifies at least one itemthat is responsive to a respective item identified in the one or moreproduct specification data sets, wherein the at least one item isdefined by a plurality of attributes having attribute data that includesat least one parameter value, wherein each received price data setrepresents an offer to sell and includes price data for the at least oneitem, and wherein at least one item identified in a received price dataset differs by at least one parameter value from the respective item asidentified in the product specification data set and/or another receivedprice data set; and for at least a subset of the received price datasets, invoke the at least one evaluation service to automaticallygenerate one or more relative value metrics for at least one itemidentified in each of the price data sets in the subset, wherein thesubset includes at least one received price data set that identifies atleast one item that differs by at least one parameter value from therespective item as identified in the product specification data setand/or another received price data set, and wherein invoking the atleast one evaluation service causes the metric application to: obtain,from at least one data source accessible to the service provider server,metric data for one or more items responsive to attributes of the atleast one item identified in the price data set, wherein each of the oneor more responsive items in the metric data is defined by a plurality ofattributes having attribute data that includes at least one parametervalue, and wherein the metric data includes market reference price datafor the one or more responsive items at a particular time or period oftime; algorithmically process the attribute data for each responsiveitem in the metric data and the attribute data of the at least one itemidentified in the price data set to dynamically identify anydifferences, wherein the identified differences in the attribute dataare used to contextually determine which of the predefined instructionsare applicable to the responsive item in the metric data; normalize themetric data by executing the predefined instructions that weredetermined applicable to the responsive items in the metric data,wherein execution of the predefined instructions causes one or moreadjustment values to be generated and applied to the market referenceprice data for at least one responsive item that differs by at least oneparameter value from the at least one item identified in the receivedprice data set, transforming the market-reference price data for theresponsive item into normalized metric data; produce at least onenormalized metric value for the at least one item identified in theprice data set using the normalized metric data; generate one or morerelative value metrics for the at least one item identified in the pricedata set, wherein the price data for the at least one item is divided bythe at least one normalized metric value produced for the at least oneitem, to generate a ratio or index value; and sort or rank the pluralityof received price data sets by the one or more relative value metricsgenerated for the at least one item identified in each price data set;wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at leastone interface that, in operation, configures the service provider serverto communicate, via the network interface, at least a sorted or rankedsubset of the received price data sets to at least the remotely locatedbuyer-agent computing device from which the one or more productspecification data sets were received.
 58. The system of claim 57,wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/orexecution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the atleast one evaluation service further causes the metric application tofilter the received price data sets by the at least one relative valuemetric generated for the at least one item identified in each price dataset and to a limit the number of price data sets communicated to thebuyer-agent computing device to a predefined number or portion of thesorted or ranked price data sets.
 59. The system of claim 57, whereinthe one or more relative value metrics measure the price data for the atleast one item identified in the price data set in relation to the atleast one normalized metric value for the at least one item, and whereina price data set with the lowest relative value metric for the at leastone item represents an optimal market value among the received pluralityof price data sets.
 60. The system of claim 57, wherein the metricapplication is separate from the metric manager, and wherein coordinatedoperation of the metric application with the metric manager enables theat least one evaluation service to algorithmically process the attributedata to dynamically identify at least one relationship comprising adifference within the attribute data, including a new or previouslyunknown relationship, without relying on a pre-constructed model havinga predefined relationship that remains fixed within the model andoutputs predictable results.
 61. The system of claim 57, whereininvocation of the at least one evaluation service and/or execution atleast one predefined instruction for adapting metric data that pertainsto the at least one evaluation service enables the metric manager toidentify an item from a plurality of attributes that were predefined andpreassociated with the item, or alternately, to identify a plurality ofattributes to be associated with a predefined item.
 62. The system ofclaim 57, wherein the metric application is further programmed to manageat least one interface that, in operation, enables a buyer-agentcomputing device to predefine one or more instructions for adaptingmetric data and preassociate the one or more instructions withattributes of an item, parameter, metric data source, event, and/or oneor more other instructions, and to store the predefined andpreassociated instructions in the metric manager for retrieval when theat least one evaluation service is invoked by the metric application,wherein the instructions are predefined and preassociated by thebuyer-agent computing device without regard to the item or itemsidentified in any specific price data set.
 63. The system of claim 57,wherein the metric application is further programmed to manage at leastone interface that, in operation, prompts a buyer-agent computing deviceto identify one or more sources of metric data to be associated with aspecific item identified in a received price data set, and/or to manageat least one interface that, in operation, enables a buyer-agentcomputing device to predefine one or more metric data sources to beassociated with an item or attributes predefined for the item and tocause the metric application to store the predefined metric data sourcesin association with the item or the attributes predefined for the item,wherein the stored metric data sources are automatically retrieved whenat least one price data set is received that identifies the item. 64.The system of claim 57, wherein invocation of the at least oneevaluation service and/or execution one or more predefined instructionsthat pertain to the at least one evaluation service causes the metricapplication to automatically query one or more databases or data sourcesaccessible to the service provider server or to monitor one or more datastreams to obtain metric data for one or more items responsive toattributes of the at least one item identified in the price data set.65. The system of claim 57, wherein the metric application is furtherprogrammed to manage at least one interface that, in operation,facilitates data communication in XML format, enabling the metricapplication to dynamically change, dynamically route, and/orpre-configure the data for movement of the data in an integrated dataexchange.
 66. The system of claim 57, wherein invocation of the at leastone evaluation service and/or execution of one or more predefinedinstructions that pertain to the at least one evaluation service causesthe metric application to use only metric data resulting from acomputer-based interaction and comprising only electronically-createdmetric data to produce the at least one normalized metric value for theat least one item identified in the price data set, wherein theelectronically-created metric data does not include human-reportedtransaction data or transaction data that was manually transcribed intoa digital format.
 67. The system of claim 57, wherein invocation of theat least one evaluation service and/or execution of one or morepredefined instructions that pertain to the at least one evaluationservice causes the metric application to generate the one or morerelative value metrics for the at least one item identified in a pricedata set within a specified period of time from receipt of the pricedata set by the service provider server, or with sufficient speed thatthe price data set and the one or more relative value metrics for the atleast one item identified in the price data set are communicated to thebuyer-agent computing device in near real-time, wherein near real-timecan vary by the environment of the transaction and is statisticallymeasurable as occurring before the offer to sell as represented by theprice data set is no longer actionable.
 68. The system of claim 57,wherein invocation of the at least one evaluation service and/orexecution of one or more predefined instructions that pertain to the atleast one evaluation service causes the metric application to obtainupdated market reference price data from at least one source of metricdata accessible to the service provider server, wherein the updatedmetric data is for one or more items responsive to attributes of atleast one item previously identified in a received price data set andcomprises more-current market reference price data for the at least oneitem and/or excludes previously-obtained metric data that is no longerresponsive to the at least one item or no longer represents marketreference price data associated with the at least one item at aparticular time or period of time, and further causes the metricapplication to generate at least one more-current relative value metricfor the at least one item identified in the price data set using themore-current normalized metric data, and wherein at least one predefinedinstruction that pertains to the at least one evaluation service causesthe metric application to automatically update at least one relativevalue metric for the at least one item continuously, at a predefinedtime, over a predefined interval of time, or upon occurrence of apredefined event, wherein an interval of time can include a continuouslysliding interval of time that represents the most current period oftime.